Assessment of HIV-1 screening test sensitivities using serially diluted positive sera can give misleading results

Three FDA licensed HIV-1 viral lysate and two nonlicensed recombinant antigen assays were used to evaluate six serially diluted plasma samples and 2 highly characterized seroconversion series. The sensitivity as measured by serial dilution did not necessarily correlate with the sensitivity as measured by seroconversion performance with the lysate and the recombinant assays. It is concluded that national licensing agencies should arrange to share seroconversion panels to evaluate accurately the sensitivity of new HIV-1 screening tests.